Students' Coding Orientation and School Socializing Context in Their Relation with Students' Scientific Achievement.

Morais, Ana M.; Fontinhas, Fernanda

The study described in this article is part of a broader research undertaking developed by the Project ESSA--Sociological Studies of the Classroom--whose main aim is to find pedagogic practices appropriate for all children. This study is mainly based on Bernstein's theory concerning the relation between social class and code and uses his concept of code as instrument of analysis. The study analyzed the relation between general coding orientation and school achievement of socially differentiated children (social class, race, gender). It also studied the influence of different modalities of school pedagogic practice on children's coding orientation (n=80, students ages 10-12 in Lisbon). The results show the higher the degree of coding orientation the higher the achievement. For all social classes, except the lower social class, achievement increases with the increase of coding orientation. For black students, coding orientation does not seem to have any influence on achievement. Coding orientation seems to have more influence on boys' achievement than on girls' achievement. (Contains 26 references and 8 figures.) (PR)